Causes of Conflict
(State CBA)

Big Picture: You will research a conflict and analyze its causes from historical and economic perspectives. Your findings will be written in a formal essay that also includes an Annotated Bibliography, Works Cited and Parenthetical References.

This assignment is the state's Classroom Based Assessment of your ability to think,
research and write in way that shows you meet the state's standards.
There is no WASL for History; this is it!

Possible US History Topics:

What were the causes and effects of the Spanish-American War?
What were the causes and effects of World War I?
What were the causes and effects of World War II?
What were the causes and effects of the Korean Conflict?
What were the causes and effects of the Vietnam War?
What were the causes and effects of the Persian Gulf War?
What were the causes and effects of U.S. Military Action in Afghanistan?
What were the causes and effects of U.S. Military Action in Iraq?

Please CAREFULLY read the following pieces of information that were prepared specifically to help you with this CBA.

INSTRUCTIONS w/Scoring Rubric You will likely want to print these 2 pages so you have the instructions and a checklist to make sure you answer all parts of the prompt.
SAMPLE ESSAYS w/comments NO PRINTING! Skim these essays and the scoring comments after each one so you have some ideas of good and bad work. Note that these samples include a final Works Cited. You will also need to turn in an Annotated Bibliography as part of the writing process.
HELPFUL LINKS AND GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS 11 pages of resources for researching as well as some very helpful graphic organizers to help you organize your research for the writing assignment. USE THIS!
HS LIBRARY This is the EASIEST place to do most of your research. This is also your best resource for the MLA format of the paper and the Works Cited.

Steps that are 100%, absolutely required for you to pass this assignment:

  1. A short (less than a page) proposal of your conflict. You are to list your topic, the places you know you can get research, some of the causes you plan to research and a timeline to complete the project.
  2. An Annotated Bibliography should be turned in once you are done gathering your research (you might still need to read all of it, but this is for all that you have "collected). Sample Annotated Bibliography here...
  3. A properly formatted MLA Paper and Works Cited that addresses the prompt and required components from the Instructions.
  4. A copy of the rubric with student self-scoring. (Rubric is with the Instructions)

GRADING